Balak is probably my favorite story outside of Genesis and Exodus. Mostly because it is an actual story. It has the same kind of spirit that the first two books are full of. Also, it is understandable, yet complicated.
Our story starts off away from the Israelites for a change. We are hearing the news of another Israelite victory. Last year, I talked about the very opposite main characters. Balak is a king who is out to destroy the Israelites. Balaam is an average Joe who believes in God. Balak is worried that the 12 tribes will attack his land. He asks Balaam to ask God to curse the Israelite nation.
There is another scene that is a little random in the Parshat. Balaam is with the donkey he has always ridden. The donkey sees an angel. Suddenly, the donkey begins to talk and try to tell Balaam of the angel. Balaam can not see the angel, so he beats the donkey. After three beatings, God reveals the angel to Balaam. Some may call it a symbol of how humans get angry too easily, but others may call it the Torah's only instance of comic relief.
Anyways, Balak is furious at Balaam. Each time Balak has sent Balaam to ask the Lord for the curse, God rejects him. Even when Balak offers Balaam a world of riches and luxuries, Balaam simply says he can not control the decisions of God. In the end, Balaam gets God to bless Israel three times.
Let us return to why Balak did this in the first place. He feared the power of the Israelites. In the fear of his own downfall, Balak tries to curse them into their downfall. Why do we fear anything that is different?
Balak illustrates the savage result of ignorance. We think Balak is just a villain in a story, but our antagonist is not far fetched from a modern day person. Anything new is bad. Different is dangerous. Eccentric is evil! The donkey got a whacked for trying to perform an act of good. Sometimes I feel the world whacks us down when angels appear.
I love that you talk about not rejecting what is different for difference sake. It is what is different in each of us that makes us unique and special.
ReplyDeleteIn the section where you mentioned that Balaam could not see the angel while he was overtaken by anger, I think it is a symbol that when we are upset, we are often blind to the good in life. At times, when we are stressed or angry, we forget about the positive things only focus on the negative.
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